The lost champions were the Arizona Wildcats and Maryland Terrapins. Yes, someone selected Maryland as our champion, which isn't as strange a pick as you might think given that they were a 4-seed, and they hadn't lost a game all year by more than 6 points. Anyway, our champions are: ALABAMA, AUBURN, Arizona, Connecticut, DUKE, FLORIDA, HOUSTON, Kansas, Marquette, Maryland, MICHIGAN STATE, Mississippi State, TENNESSEE. Four of the picks are in action tonight: Houston (against Purdue), Auburn (against Michigan), Michigan State (against Mississippi) and Tennessee (versus Kentucky). Most won't have much of an effect on the pool as wins by the favorites will either help or hurt most entrants - but boy oh boy does that set up an exciting weekend!
Since all the games were chalk, if you did not correctly have 3 of the 4 winners from last night, you lost ground in the standings. Sometimes even if you had 3 correct, because we have a new leader, Max Macon 3 of Jupiter, Florida, followed by Bill Ganoe 1 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Salvatore Plamondon of Lincoln, Rhode Island. Salvatore had Maryland defeating Florida, and although a tough, gutsy pick, it cost him first place - at least for the moment.
The Picks of the Day went to all of the entries that correctly picked all 4 winners, and there are a number of those brackets, but CONGRATS anyway to: Ty Hedgpeth of Wilmington, NC, Paul Cummings of Palm City, Florida, Mike Wolff 2 of Boynton Beach, Florida, Jane Reynolds and Carolyn Fowler of West Palm Beach, Florida, Measha Donatello Williams of Houston, Texas, Christina Zanzig of Stuart, Florida, Martha Kroesen of West Palm Beach, Florida, Dan Barsky 1 of Miami Beach, Florida, Rich Samuels 2 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Jody Cox of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Justine Frank of Charlotte, North Carolina, Kevin Dick of Alexandria, Virginia, Measha Raphael Williams of Houston, Texas, Day Yi 2 of Forest Hills, New York, Xavier Conway of somewhere near Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Alvaro Gonzalez of Boynton Beach, Florida, Allison Parker of Washington, D.C., Measha Michaelangelo Williams of Houston, Texas, Brandon Satterwhite of Juno Beach, Vincent Plamondon of Lincoln Rhode Island, Ashley Poer 1 of Lake Worth Beach, Florida, Theo Frank of Charlotte, North Carolina, Kisha Marzouca of Boynton Beach, Florida, William Pujals of Charlotte, North Carolina, Max Macon 4 of Jupiter, Florida and Cheryl Spuhler of Acworth, Georgia.
PHEW!!! - That was a lot. So let's transfer from on-the-paper of the brackets to on-the-court for the games.
Players of the Day
10. Kon Knueppel, Duke - 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists [Ed. Note - He must have been good to make the list b/c Pepster hates this guy as a player]
9. Aden Holloway, Alabama - 23 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
8. JT Toppin, Texas Tech - 20 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
7. Richie Saunders, BYU - 25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
6. Derik Queen, Maryland - 27 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals
5. Johnell Davis, Arkansas - 30 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist
4. Caleb Love, Arizona - 35 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal [Ed. Note - Pepster did tell you to watch Caleb Love against Duke!]
3. Cooper Flagg, Duke - 30 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks
2. Derrion Williams, Texas Tech - 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, last-minute three to send the game to overtime, game-winner with about 7 seconds left in OT
1. Mark Sears, Alabama - 34 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assist, 3 steals - 10 Three-Pointers Made
Trivia Question: Mark Sears hit 10 three-pointers in Alabama's Sweet 16 victory over BYU. Who holds the record for most made three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, and how many did he hit?
Stats of the Day
6. Florida committed 12 turnovers in the first half
5. Mark Sears of Alabama hit 10 three-pointers
4. 69-56: Arkansas's lead over Texas Tech with 5:00 minutes remaining in the game
3. Alabama hit an NCAA Tournament record 25 three-pointers; previous record was 21.
2. If Alabama did not hit any two-point field goals last night, only their three-pointers and free throws, they still would have defeated BYU.
1. Tyler O"Neill of the Baltimore Orioles, homered in his 6th-consecutive season opener!
Trivia Answer: Jeff Fryer, Loyola Marymount, 11 (11-15) against Michigan in 1990
The way the games played out yesterday, the most obvious history of the NCAA tournament story was about that 1990 Loyola Marymount team (Hank Gathers death, Bo Kimble scoring 30+ on an off-night and shooting free throws left-handed to honor Gathers, Jeff Fryer hitting threes like nobody's business, and taking them like there weren't no fours - to paraphrase Antoine Walker. But, I have already done that story in past years. So then, I was almost hoping for a Maryland victory (except Florida is my champion) so that I can write about that 2002 national championship team with Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, Lonny Baxter, Tahj Holden and Chris Wilcox, but that didn't happen.
But, then it hit me like an Ali Faroukmanesh three-pointer. (I hear your collective, "Who?"). You know, Ali Farouskmanesh, the shooter of the gutsiest, craziest, most awe-inspiring three-pointer of all time. Which three-pointer was this, you might aske? THIS ONE!!! Now, Faroukmanesh was wide-open on this shot, why was it gutsy and crazy? Well, before we get to that point, let me just go back to why he is in the news. Yesterday, Faroukmanesh was named the head coach at Colorado State - yes that Colorado State that just lost to Maryland on a buzzer beater.
So, in 2010, Kansas was the number 1 seed in the tournament, and cruised to a 90-74 victory over 16th-seeded Lehigh, behind 26 points from Marcus Morris, and double figures from Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, Xavier Henry and Tyrel Reed. This brough the Jayhawks into a second-round matchup against the 9th seeded University of Northern Iowa, who had sneaked by the 8th seeded UNLV Running' Rebels 69-66. In that game Ali Faroukmanesh led the team with 17 points, shooting 5-9 from three-point range, including the game-winner. This brought us to the matchup against top-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City.
Against Kansas, Northern Iowa led by 6 at halftime. In the second half, Kansas lost star center Cole Aldrich to injury and Northern Iowa took more of a lead. Kansas, gathered their breath, began pressing, and pulled back into the game, down only 1 with 35 seconds left. Nothern Iowa has the ball and is facing backcourt pressure as they inbound the ball. They easily beat the pressure and get the ball into Faroukmanesh's hands on the wing with a Kansas defender near him, and everybody else hustling to get into the Northern Iowa offensive zone. Translation - there was nobody else there. Good time to dribble, wait for the foul, hit two free throws and then play defenses with a three-point lead. But no - Faroukmanesh pulls up and .... swish!!! Four-point lead for Northern Iowa. Faroukmanesh hits two more free throws, and Kansas never got any close than that 1-point deficit before Faroukmanesh launched. Faroukkmanesh finished with a game and team high 16, on 4-10 from three-point range to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Northern Iowa ultimately lost in the next round to Michigan State 59-52, with the Spartans holding Faroukmanesh to only 9 points, on 1-6 shooting from three-point range. And since Butler's Gordan Hayward's last-second three-pointer against Duke in the championship game just missed allowing Duke to win 61-59, Ali Faroukmanesh hit the most memorable shot in that 2010 tournament. It will be interesting to see what he does as a head coach, with a team that definitely has some talent (unless they leave in the portal - but that is a story for another day!).
Sweet Sixteen/Day 1 Standings
1. Max Macon 3 - 83 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
2. Bill Ganoe 1 - 82 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Salvatore Plamondon - 82 - ALABAMA/AUBURN
4. Katie Kollmeyer - 81 - FLORIDA/KENTUCKY
5. Marcus Jackson - 80 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE
Measha Leonardo Williams - 80 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
7. Ty Hedgpeth - 79 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE
8. Paul Cummings - 78 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
Preston Holbert - 78 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA
10. Bill Ganoe 3 - 76 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Brigadier General Kareem Montague - 76 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE
Mike Wolff 2 - 76 - FLORIDA/DUKE
13. Matt Hopps - 75 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Jane Reynolds & Carolyn Fowler - 75 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
Measha Donatello Williams - 75 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Christina Zanzig - 75 - MICHIGAN STATE/DUKE
17. Brent Bellinger - 74 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Mark Holbert - 74 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Martha Kroesen - 74 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
Dustin Lansing - 74 - ALABAMA/MICHIGAN STATE
Marcus Spruill- 74 - DUKE/St. John's
22. Dan Barsky 1 - 73 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
Guy Hughes - 73 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
Shane Jernigan - 73 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
Rich Samuels 2 - 73 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE
26. Dan Barsky 2 - 72 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE
Jonathan Cox - 72 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Eric Inge - 72 - DUKE/FLORIDA
George Walks 2 - 72 - ALABAMA/FLORIDA
30. Brent Bellinger 2 - 71 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
Justine Frank - 71 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Christina Gomez - 71 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Alyssa Hopps - 71 - AUBURN/HOUSTON
34. Kevin Dick - 70 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
John Hedgpeth - 70 - DUKE/AUBURN
Dan Laishley - 70 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Max Macon 1 - 70 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Barbie McInerney - 70 - FLORIDA/ARIZONA
Jonathan Wasserman - 70 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
Measha Raphael Williams - 70 - DUKE/AUBURN
41. Natalie Moon - 69 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Steven Usma 2 - 69 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
George Walks 3 - 69 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Mike Wolff 1 - 69 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Day Yi 2 - 69 - AUBURN/HOUSTON
46. Xavier Conway - 68 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Alvaro Gonzalez - 68 - AUBURN/HOUSTON
Allison Parker - 68 - AUBURN/ALABAMA
Jazz Piasecki - 68 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
50. Kyle Henderson 1 - 67 - FLORIDA/Clemson
Silas Nichols - 67 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Measha Michaelangelo Williams - 67 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
53. Kingfish Parham - 66 - AUBURN/HOUSTON
Brittany Sosa - 66 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
Lily Spuhler - 66 - FLORIDA/PURDUE
Steven Usma 3 - 66 - AUBURN/HOUSTON
Day Yi - 66 - DUKE/St. John's
58. Rachel Bornn - 65 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Jacey Fowler I - 65 - MICHIGAN STATE/TENNESSEE
Shane Dogmillionaire - 65 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Jeff Plamondon - 65 - DUKE/MICHIGAN STATE
Javier Rodriguez 2 - 65 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Rich Samuels 1 - 65 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Brandon Satterwhite - 65 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
Bubba Zdrowak - 65 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
66. Sean & Barbie McInerney - 64 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
67. Adam Jorgensen - 63 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Chris LaForte - 63 - MICHIGAN STATE/ALABAMA
69. Vincent Plamondon - 62 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Ashley Poer 2 - 62 - FLORIDA/ARIZONA
Jane Reynolds - 62 - ALABAMA/AUBURN
Chris Simmons - 62 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Amanda Staudt - 62 - MICHIGAN STATE/PURDUE (4)
74. Joel Chernoff - 61 - AUBURN/DUKE
Jenna Finkelstein - 61 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
Colleen Giamberini - 61 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Kline Kroesen - 61 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
Dave Piasecki - 61 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Ashley Poer 1 - 61 = DUKE/AUBURN
80. Theo Frank - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Quinn Jackson - 60 - ALABAMA/MICHIGAN STATE
Kisha Marzouca - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Sasha Moon - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Steven Usma 4 - 60 - FLORIDA/KENTUCKY
Justin Yung - 60 - DUKE/FLORIDA
86. Karen Katz 1 - 59 - DUKE/Maryland
Sean McInerney 1 - 59 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA
Sean McInerney III - 59 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Sean McInerney IIII - 59 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Chuck Whitcomb - 59 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA
Dave Wilson - 59 - FLORIDA/DUKE
92. Paul Cummings 2 - 58 - HOUSTON/AUBURN
James Garvin - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Braeden Helland - 58 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
Si Nichols - 58 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE
William Pujals - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Javier Rodriguez 1 - 58 - DUKE/AUBURN
Jessica Samuels - 58 - DUKE/Texas A&M
Pepe Sosa - 58 - FLORIDA/HOUSTON
Jason Spuhler - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Stacia Wilkaitis - 58 - FLORIDA/DUKE
102. Jim Coleman - 57 - DUKE/AUBURN
Karen Katz 2 - 57 - HOUSTON/MICHIGAN STATE
Max Macon 4 - 57 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Ferris Spuhler - 57 - Kansas/DUKE
106. Benny Frank Finkelstein - 56 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
Jacey Fowler II - 56 - ALABAMA/FLORIDA
Max Macon 2 - 56 - DUKE/FLORIDA
Hannah Sosa - 56 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA
Jeremy Spuhler - 56 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Steven Usma 1 - 56 - DUKE/FLORIDA
112. Tyler Giamberini - 55 - Maryland/ALABAMA
Kisha Marzouca 2 - 55 - DUKE/AUBURN
Sean McInerney II - 55 - FLORIDA/St. Mary's
115. Kyle Henderson 2 - 54 - HOUSTON/FLORIDA
Cheryl Spuhler - 54 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
Amy Zdrowak - 54 - AUBURN/ALABAMA
Joshua Zdrowak - 54 - DUKE/FLORIDA
119. Arlene Amo Hopps - 53 - DUKE/Connecticut
Katie Zdrowak - 53- DUKE/St. John's
121. George Walks 4 - 52 - TENNESSEE/FLORIDA
122. Caroline Spuhler - 51 - FLORIDA/DUKE
Biscuit Zdrowak - 51 - HOUSTON/Iowa State
124. Dave Marzouca 2 - 50 - Connecticut/ALABAMA
125. Dave Marzouca - 49 - AUBURN/Arizona
Logan Spuhler - 49 - FLORIDA/TENNESSEE
George Walks 1 - 49 - AUBURN/TENNESSEE
Keith Zdrowak - 49 - DUKE/FLORIDA
129. Bill Ganoe 2 - 47 - HOUSTON/St. John's
Stephanie Henderson - 47 - AUBURN/Clemson
131. Carolyn Fowler - 46 - AUBURN/DUKE
132. Wes Wiggins - 43 - Arizona/Louisville
133. Barkley Sosa - 41 - Mississippi State/Connecticut
134. Luna Frank - 32 - Marquette/HOUSTON
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